Fall 2024 Florida trip

We (husband and I) just got back from a 12-day trip back to Florida. This was the trip we promised ourselves, to return to Saint Augustine to explore it further. On the return trip, we stopped to explore a few other places that had been on our "must check out" list. Over the next day or so, I will post portions of our trip logs.

DAYS 1 THROUGH 3 - These were driving days, only to get where we were going. On Day 1, we drove from our home to just outside of Fort Campbell, KY (southern part on the TN state line). We used I-44/270/255/64/57/24. Thanks to points, our first night's lodging was free. We went onto the Army base for dinner.

Day 2 was not our favorite. We had to traverse 3 cities, using I-24 and I-75. First was Nashville, which really wasn't a traffic issue since it was a Sunday. Second was Chattanooga. That was NOT fun, because TN DOT was working on the intersection of I-24 and I-75 which backed up traffic for several miles. But the worst was Atlanta. DESPITE it being a Sunday, it took us forever to cross from Marrietta through Atlanta into the southern suburbs. Our SunPass would have been helpful, but the Express Lanes were closed. We used the HOV lanes whenever we could. The most aggravating thing? Near ATL airport, there were 5 southbound lanes that were forced to merge into 1 southbound lane, which was done one lane at a time. Who on earth thought THAT was a great idea, even on a Sunday??!?!?! We were grateful to arrive in Locust Grove at our second night, and to get a good dinner.

Day 3 - This was an easy day compared to the day before. We drove from Locust Grove to Saint Augustine. When we came into JAX, we had to call our lodging in StAug, to ensure we could arrive before Check In time. The response? "Come on in!" We were settled pretty quickly, once in. To stay in the historic downtown area is more expensive, but you don't have to fight parking since you just leave your car at the hotel (which isn't free parking). Once our road trip vehicle got parked that day, it did not move until we left on Day 8.


Donna

Don't we just love it when the DOT wants 5 lanes to merge into 1?

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e78e686f_c.jpgDay 2-12

A beautiful tree, up close:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d8453d8d_c.jpgDay 3-2

Nickajack Lake, TN:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...db9932a8_c.jpgDay 2-5

The view from the upper deck of our lodging place:

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DAY 4 - ST AUGUSTINE HISTORY

We began the morning on the upper deck of our lodging, Best Western Bayfront. Some rooms had bay view, but we chose not to get one because of the expense and because you could easily go up to the upper deck, located above the entrance. They had a lounge set and some tall tables and chairs. We were up there with our coffee before sunrise, and caught the sunrise on photo.

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Breakfast at this lodge was by coupon for the cafe next door, Mary's, which had been in business for more than 30 years. Lodgers had 3 choices. The only thing we had to pay for was the tip, or if you wanted to order from the menu instead.

St George Street is a historic street in St Augustine, but it is now full of lots of little shops. We did a little shopping, then went back to the room for a bit. Lunch took us back to St George Street, to a place called St Augustine Seafood. Really cute and good food.

We walked up to a used bookstore, off the beaten track, another one that has been there for 20+ years. When you're a reader, it's so hard to resist a good used bookstore! Don't look for this one online, she said they are not online and have no plans to get that way. After a quick snack, we headed out for the Cathedral. We had headed that way in the morning, but the Cathedral of St Augustine is still a very active Catholic church, and a funeral was in progress. This is one of the oldest churches that still survives in St Augustine.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4c1aa35b_c.jpgDay 4-11A

The ceiling of the Cathedral fascinated me:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0d1dcb3e_c.jpgDay 4-13A

We walked across the street to the Governor's House, now an art gallery full of paintings that were beautiful.

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We had dinner and dessert at Casa Reina, the Queen's House, at the corner of Avenida Melendez and the Bridge of Lions. The food was delicious! Normally we do not eat dessert, but the Tres Leche caught our attention. We shared it.

Places in America named for locations in the 'old country' often have pronunciations that are different from their namesakes. For example, it's muh-DRID Spain but New MAD-rid Missouri; or KY-row Egypt but KAY-row Illinois. So my question is this: Do the locals (or the parishioners especially) pronounce it Saint AUG-us-teen or Saint au-GUS-tin? In either case, it's still on my bucket list, as your images and commentary remind me.

AZBuck

Unrelated to Buck's query -- at one time, we were going to create a pronouncing gazetteer on the web highlighting how geographic features are pronounced by the locals. One of my favorites is PEE-Roo, Indiana (Peru, IN.)

Mark

To answer the above questions, everyone seemed to pronounce it "Saint AU-gus-teen." (Though I'd hear San-ah-GUS-tin periodically.) My favorite of the pronunciation changes is in Versailles. The French way, of course, is Ver-SIGH. In MO, though, it's Ver-sales, like you're going shopping. Also, we learned something on this trip: it's Val-DAH-stah, GA, not Val-DOH-stah.

DAY 5 - BRIDGE OF LIONS AND MORE

Up at the normal time, but due to the huge meal and dessert from the night before, we did not go to breakfast at Mary's. Instead, after coffee, we decided to do some more walking. We walked up Avenida Melendez to the Bridge of Lions, which goes over the Matanzas River to Anastasia Island, and back. The Bridge of Lions is a drawbridge, which we were able to see in action a couple of times during our stay, but fortunately for us, not while we were walking it.

The Bridge of Lions, as we saw it that morning:

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There are 4 of these statues to designate the Bridge:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0bf5f811_c.jpgDay 5-4A

Pedestrian View:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6f9039ce_c.jpgDay 5-6A

View from the Bridge out to the River:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...48bbdfeb_c.jpgDay 5-8A

Another of the 4 Lions:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c4039b46_c.jpgDay 5-10A

Drawbridge control tower:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...30d25224_c.jpgDay 5-7A

After the Bridge, we set out on King Street to Cordova to St. Francis Street, then back to Avenida Melendez to our lodging -- all before 11 am.

Big museum:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...997ffd96_c.jpgDay 5-19A

One building has seen several lives. Anyone remember this store brand? Of course that's not what's in there now, but it brought back memories:

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The city's tribute to its founder, Ponce de Leon:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6eee58c5_c.jpgDay 5-23A

The rest of the day? We rested, used the outdoor pool (pleasant!), went back up to St George Street to do more shopping, then went to dinner at River & Fort Restaurant next door. The weather was showing rain in sight (no, not Helene, yet) so we didn't want to go far. We were barely back in the room when it began to rain, with thunder.

DAY 6 - HURRICANE? TROPICAL STORM? PREPPING FOR HELENE!

Our sixth day was mostly spent doing as much relaxing as we could. We debated whether we should leave and try to outrun Helene, but all indications were that it was going to be a Tropical Storm as Helene was headed for the Panhandle. Getting out of St Augustine would just mean we'd be going in the same direction as others trying to flee.

Instead, we tried to relax and have a mostly "down day". We watched the lodge's staff move outdoor furniture, planters (already on wheels) and more into an unused room or into an area protected from the wind. Bear in mind this was mid-week (Thursday) so their parking lot wasn't really full. There were four parking places usually blocked with cones that said "Pick up trucks only" or "staff parking", and for those, they merely laid the cone down until a pick-up truck needed the spot.

We took umbrellas and walked back to St George Street, needing the umbrellas only at one point. Later in the afternoon, we enjoyed "Meehan's Backyard" which is an outdoor area where they mostly serve liquor and snacks. I had a Key Lime Pie which was better than the one I'd had 5 months before in the Keys.

Meehan's was dinner again, since we knew we wanted to go back for dinner before we left town. They too were preparing for the wind by putting outdoor furniture in a better place, and they eventually took down two hanging signs in front (but they restored them by Friday at 11 am.).

There are no photos from this day.

During the night, sure enough, the wind picked up. It was very, very gusty, but we felt safe in the room. Our power stayed on -- lodge staff had warned us that a loss of power (i.e. no A/C) would be possible, but they didn't expect high waters. Water did raise a little in the River, but did not overflow its banks. One wind gust caused a metallic clatter outside our room. It wasn't until morning that we found it between our car and the fence between the parking lot and the sidewalk in front of our room. It was a metal base to a round planter that had not gotten moved, from upstairs of us. We were grateful that it did not hit our car as it would have done some damage.

Donna,

Yes, it seems that you very lucky that the hurricane veered away from that section of the Florida coast.

Enjoying the report.

Mark

DAY 7 - Last Day in St Augustine

Early in the morning, we looked at the things we'd done in St Augustine, decided to catch up on anything we missed that we really wanted to do, and set out to do just that.

We took a 3/4 mile walk (one-way) up Kings Street to the San Sebastian Winery. Though the Winery had parking, we figured we could temper our spending if we had to carry anything back to the room. They have a "tasting tour" which allows you to taste 8 different wines. In the end, we bought 4, which we could carry back in a box made for such things.

On the way up to the Winery, we passed Flagler College (formerly Hotel Ponce de Leon):

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We also passed some homes that had prepared for the storm. One was puzzling to us.

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It was very warm and very humid, thanks to Tropical Storm Helene, so when we got back, we were grateful for electricity and the air conditioned room.

We'd found this little "hole in the wall" that looked like it had good food, so that's where we went for lunch. DJ's Clam Shack wasn't far from our lodging but they had closed early on Thursday, to allow employees to head home safely. (A lot of businesses had done that.). The food was, indeed, very good. My husband enjoyed his fried clams and clam chowder. As for me, I don't eat shellfish, so I had onion rings and a salad.

The boats started back now that the storm was over.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f33181af_c.jpgDAY 7-12A

Even the drawbridge got used that day:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3c16eafe_c.jpgDay 7-10A

We came to the conclusion that St Augustine must get busy on weekends in the fall and "off season", as by 9 pm, their lot was full! So full, we hoped that someone wouldn't come in later and block us in, as we had intentions of being out before dawn the next day.

Day 8 - TRAVEL, ST AUGUSTINE TO CHATTANOOGA TN

Long before dawn, we were awake, had the vehicle packed, travel coffee mugs ready, and took off before 6 am. It was still dark, but you could see the hint of light off to the east as we traversed Jacksonville's I-295 to the west of town. We debated whether or not to get fuel in JAX or wait until Georgia where prices were lower, opting for Georgia since we were only down to 3/4 tank. Mistake, that's for sure.

Along the way, hubby wanted to know where we were stopping for breakfast. By this time, we were already through JAX, westbound on I-10. There wasn't much to offer except a Huddle House, which he declined. Mistake #2. Instead, we were headed for a Cracker Barrel at exit 5 in Georgia.

It was easy to see the issue there, right away. NONE of the truck stops' signs were lit up, no vehicles were at pumps: NO POWER. So we moved on, headed for fuel.

Pulled into Valdosta, GA's Sam's Club and this is what greeted us:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...320d74a8_c.jpgDay 8-5A

Sam's Club was one of the few places in Valdosta that had power "the normal way", where everyone else that had power was using generators. The photo shows how it was when we got in line, but the line kept getting longer and longer, and people were not just filling their car's tanks, they were also filling spare jugs for generator fuel. The line we were in only had one pump, and as we pulled up to be the next to fill, the card of the girl in front of us froze the pump. They still could not get it working, 15 minutes later, and when the manager heard our predicament, she got us moved to the front of the line on the next pump over. We lost 50 minutes there, plus more time trying to get back on the freeway as the traffic lights weren't working and there weren't any traffic policemen out there.

All along the route, we saw power outages (until Tifton, GA), downed trees, and billboards that were torn apart. We looked for another breakfast place, and found an open Cracker Barrel. But they had a 30-45 minute wait just to get seated, so we moved on, finally taking brunch at a fast-food place around 11 am.

Downed billboard in this photo:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ce206ccc_c.jpgDay 8-3A

Atlanta traffic was easier - maybe fewer people out because the storm had moved through there. We were able to use the Express Lanes this time, which helped us a lot. Then the HOV lanes. We didn't really see "heavy" traffic until Marrieta.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0818c128_c.jpgDay 8-8A

We finally got to Tennessee around 3:30, and into the traffic snarl caused by the new intersection of I-24 and I-75 that's being built. Some day it might make that intersection smoother, but not at any time during our stay in Chattanooga. It was a bear to deal with, so we tried to find ways around if we could reasonably do so during our 3-night, 2-day stay.

Our lodging was another Best Western. We've been trying to build up points with BW for several reasons, and by the end of the trip, we had enough points for 2 free nights (we hope). We chose this one for its proximity to Lookout Mountain, and because it had laundry facilities. (The previous one did not.)

Up the hill from the lodge was a Logan's Roadhouse, which we'd never tried. So that was dinner. Similar in concept to a Texas Roadhouse (which we like), the food was fine but TR's rolls are better.

Day 9 - CHICKAMAUGA NATIONAL MILITARY PARK

Despite the look of a cloudy day, we started out at a decent hour. First stop, though, was at the neighboring Walmart store for a few things. which included Krispy Kreme donuts, and then at McDonald's for coffee. We went down to Chickamauga using a combination of a map they'd sent us, and our GyPSy.

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We ate our donuts in front of this impressive looking visitor center, before going into the building for further information, movie, etc.

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Like many (but not all) battlefields, you follow the driving tour signs, making your stops in designated areas where there is both an interpretive sign and description on the NMP brochure. One thing to be noted about Chickamauga is that the monuments here are very intricately carved. Like other parks, though, there are so many that you couldn't possibly see them all unless you took a week and did a lot of hiking. We noted a lot of people doing just that - hiking or cycling in specific areas. Well, it was a Sunday, so we weren't too surprised.

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Along the 8-stop tour, there were two old cabins. Though they won't let you go into them, the "doors" were full-length metal gates that would allow you to peer in, either with your eyes/nose, phone camera, camera lens, or all 3. They were bare, not much in them except a fireplace and maybe some stairs into the loft area.

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Many of these signs, red for Confederate and blue for Union, were available to be read. They are made of cast iron, we found out, and many have been in place since 1890's when Chattanooga-Chickamauga became the first National Military Park (NMP). This sign, in particular, caught my attention since reading earlier that Longstreet was a cousin of Julia Dent Grant (Ulysses S Grant's wife). Note that Longstreet was a Rebel.

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A look into one of those cabins:

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Talk about an intricately carved monument!

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This is Wilson's Tower, one of those that has steps inside to the top with a view. It's a good cardio workout -- yes, we went up it.

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View from the top:

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The second cabin on the tour, Snodgrass Cabin on Snodgrass Hill, was about the final stop on the tour.

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We spent what was left of the day catching up on the laundry and other little chores that needed doing, before going to dinner. The restaurant we chose was on the other side of Chattanooga, we found out, meaning we had to traverse that Interchange-Under-Construction-I-24 & I-75. We ran into the problem that we've seen before - restaurants that are closed on Sundays and/or Mondays - so we didn't get our choice of places. Most of the ones recommended to us were closed both days we were there. So we ate at chains that we did not have nearby at home. (That is our rule of thumb for chains, eat at the ones that we don't have close to us. We make exception for the occasional breakfast at McDonald's, though we prefer Cracker Barrel or Huddle House for breakfasts.).

Day 10 - Chattanooga National Military Park at Point Park, Lookout Mountain

We waited a bit that morning, to let the clouds (fog) burn off a little down in Lookout Valley where we were staying. Looking up to what we knew to be Lookout Mountain, we could see clouds up there. Well, that battle was known as "the battle in the clouds", so we figured maybe we'd see it as the Civil War soldiers saw it. So off we went.

Our GyPSy took us up Lookout Mountain but I had to program it twice to get us to the Visitor Center for the military park. There's a lot on Lookout Mountain - an incline railway, I think Rock City is somewhere around there, and Ruby Falls. We weren't interested in the commercialized stuff like those three.

Once at Point Park, we were lucky to get "front row parking", but there is a small lot up there, too. While Chickamauga did not charge an entrance fee, evidently Chattanooga NMP section does, though no one was in the booth to look at our pass and we didn't figure any need to play with the self-service machine to buy a pass since we have a Lifetime Pass.

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This battlefield is ALL WALKING, not driving. It's not very large, but it does involve a lot of stairs so it is definitely not "accessible". We were definitely walking in the clouds, at least for a while.

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About the only memorial in this park was right in the middle.

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To get to some of the views, you had to climb up some rocks. Hubby is braver (or crazier) than me about this. And yes, it was cold in Chattanooga while we were there. When we stepped outside after so many days in Florida, we had to grab jackets!

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When we first got onto the mountain, this was covered in clouds. Now we could start to see that some of the views could be stunning! This shows the Tennessee River. If you are on I-24, you are on one side of that river for a mile or so as it curves around.

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Pretty soon, the clouds burned off and I was able to pick out several things including the Walmart we'd shopped at the day before, AND, because of its blue roof, our lodge. All because it was easy to follow the river, and I-24.

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We left Point Park quite disappointed. The ranger had told us that when the park was established,in 1890, the folks in Chattanooga did not wish to remember that part of the war. By that time, much of Missionary Ridge was privately owned and owners wanted it to stay that way - even if it meant they had little white monuments in their yard that they were not allowed to destroy, deface or remove. Much of the Chattanooga portion of the war took place on Missionary Ridge. Another thing we learned from that ranger, and that was the price to replace some of those cast iron red and blue signs. Those were initially placed in the 1890s, marked by veteran soldiers who came and marked everything, "this was here, that was there", etc. Replacing ONE today is over $5200. A broken one was in the visitor center, but the ranger stated that Mother Nature broke that one by sending a tree down on it.

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We drove around Chattanooga a little bit, and once again had dinner on the other side of town.

Wow, that brings back memories. I visited Chickamauga a number of years ago and took a Ranger led tour around the battlefield. At some point during that tour I mentioned to him that my great-great-grandfather had fought there and he asked which unit. I told him the 21st Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment and his eyes lit up. It turns out that the 21st was part of General Thomas' Corps and helped him earn the sobriquet of "The Rock of Chickamauga". Here's the monument to the 21st. In military usage, the acorn is a symbol of strength, perseverance and hard work.

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/foru...3&d=1728353452 https://www.roadtripamerica.com/foru...4&d=1728353501

AZBuck

Was that on Snodgrass Hill, AZBuck?

DAY 11 - TUESDAY TRAVELS

After Chattanooga, it was time to head northwest again toward home. It would be too far to go from Chattanooga to our home in one day, so we decided ahead of time to make it a two-day drive. Before leaving home, we had reserved one place and then changed to another place in a different city. The destination that day was the southwest side of St Louis.

Heading out on I-24, where traffic was fairly light, our first stop was in Kimball for fuel. We'd decided that we needed a tank of a Top Tier rated fuel, so we chose Shell. Neither of us was hungry yet, so we continued on. The Monteagle Grade was beautiful, as it had been on the way down, and for truckers' sakes, we were happy that no trucks needed those emergency ramps. If you aren't aware, this Grade was mentioned in the opening song for the old movie, "Smokey and the Bandit".

Traffic was getting heavier, so we decided to let the Nashville rush hour "rush on" without us by eating breakfast in Manchester. Our stomachs were still on Eastern time, though the digital clocks all changed to Central just before Monteagle Pass. Though there was a Cracker Barrel there, we decided to give the local place, Emma's, a try. Food was okay. Priced a little less than CB. But in the meantime, Rush Hour went by.

Nashville traffic wasn't all that bad. We had only one place of slow-n-go. After Clarksville, though, right as we were coming across the state line into Kentucky, traffic stopped. We inched into the KY Welcome Center for a couple of reasons, and also found out what the hold up was. About a half mile north of the Welcome Center, a big chunk of I-24 westbound in the right lane was pretty much gone, all the way down to rebar. We all went around it in the left lane (DOT had already prepped it for rebuild) and moved on.

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Our next stop was in Paducah, for fuel again, then at the IL Welcome Center on I-24, which is one at an exit accessible by both directions. We debated turning around, taking US-60/62 to I-57 to I-55N, but decided to continue with our original plans using the same highways we came out on. That meant finishing up I-24, catching I-57 North, then I-64 west.

Crossing the Ohio River:

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Along I-64, we stopped in Fairview Heights. They have a Total Wine store that is about a mile off the freeway, and hubby was looking for something specific that he used to get in San Diego, could not buy at any of our local liquor stores or departments, so he figured he'd stop and try Total Wine. They didn't have it either (maraschino cherry juice), so we ended up ordering it from Amazon, but shopping at TW is always fun because you never know what you are going to find. And they have tastings.

We got on I-255 and as I looked out my passenger window to the west, I could see the downtown St Louis skyline AND the Arch. I have to admit that this was the first time I'd seen the Arch in our 3 years of living in MO. In years past, we've been there and of course went up in the tram, but not since we moved here.

Crossing the Mississippi River on the Jefferson Barracks Bridge. Both of us commented that the River was low!

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Our hotel choice was a brand we haven't stayed in, in over 30 years, Drury. Even that was at insurance expense (due to a car accident in 1993 that totaled our van while on a trip). Once in, which was supposed to be an overnight only, we decided to stay an extra night and do some things in St Louis while we were there. It was a nice hotel, plus it offered a "Pick me up" at 5:30 (like dinner, but they don't call it that), hot breakfast which included waffles AND pancakes and more.

For that evening, we tried their "Pick Me Up" offering, which was Pulled-Pork sliders and a lot of sides were offered. After dinner, we discovered that one of the places we thought we'd do, would be closed. But I had some alternatives.

Day 12- Final Day of Sightseeing

After enjoying that lovely room in the hotel, we tried their breakfast. Normally, motel/hotel/lodge breakfasts aren't something we "do" very often, but we thought we'd try this one. It was a decent buffet - scrambled eggs, sausage, a waffle maker, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, all sorts of carb choices, all sorts of juices, coffee and tea, fruit.

After St Louis Rush Hour was mostly done, we headed out on the "back roads" to the Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site, just outside of Grant's Farm. Thanks to a good map and our iPhone's GyPSy (which is what we use these days), we found it without issue.

It seems ironic that Ulysses S Grant, an abolitionist, should marry into a family of slaveowners, the Dents.

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As I had read two books that featured the plantation, I was surprised to see that the house was green. The two books were "Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule" by Jennifer Chiaverini, and "The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant". The name of the plantation is White Haven. I guess it's named for the place in New England they came from, not for the color of the house.

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As we took in this view, we noted that you had to be on a tour to see the inside of the house, and then that a tour was forming outside of the visitor center. We rushed to be able to join that tour (free). It was a very interesting tour done by a well-versed ranger. Later, when I commented to the ranger that the gift shop did not sell the Chiaverini book (though it sold one of her other books, "The Union Quilters"), she said yes, she'd read it and found it so well researched and that yes, they should carry the book.

The house was owned by Former President Grant and his wife after the president purchased it from his father-in-law, who was in financial straits. After the Grants sold it, just after they moved permanently to the East Coast, it was owned by two different families. Eventually the NPS took it over, but not until after some damage had been done -- lots parceled off to become a neighborhood ("Grantwood"), much of it sold to Anheuser-Busch who runs that as Grant's Farm, a commercial entity. Ulysses' former cabin, Hardscrabble, got moved several times and is now on the Grant's Farm property. The backside of it can be seen from a major roadway, but the Grant's Farm tram does not take you to it. So the fact that Grant's Farm was closed, wasn't as much a disappointment when we found out we couldn't get to Hardscrabble.

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Dishes found on the property:

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It's nice to see the NPS taking care of their property:

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The summer kitchen, which for awhile was turned into a garage for subsequent owners, but restored to kitchen status by the NPS:

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One of the first editions of Ulysses S. Grant personal memoirs. He was urged to write them when suffering from throat cancer. Mark Twain offered to publish them when they were completed. Grant finished them, then died not too long afterward. Julia was able to live on the proceeds, and went on to write her own. This copy was in the Visitor Center museum, which is in "the old barn" but looks new. Unlike other visitor center museums, you're encouraged to visit the museum last. The self-tour takes you around the property first, then into the museum before sending you back to to the visitor center.

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Visitor Center and Museum:

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With the closure of Grant's Farm, and not wanting to fight the parking etc downtown St Louis, it was high time to do some shopping. The area where we live used to have 3 outlet malls within 40 miles. Now, one has about 10 stores left (from its high of 120+ stores), another has shut down completely and the third is ready to do the same. The one with 10 stores left is allowing the tenant to stay until their lease is up, and no lease renewals are allowed. We know that St Louis' Chesterfield Mall is about to be razed, and two of the others are losing tenants quickly. But we found West County Center and spent the afternoon there, getting some early Christmas shopping done.

Day 13 - Homeward Bound

We debated staying yet another day to see if we could get to Grant's Farm and Hardscrabble, but obligations at home made us decide in the favor of heading home. Still, we weren't in any hurry to experience St Louis Rush Hour even if going in the opposite direction, and home was only 3 or 4 hours drive. So we packed out leisurely, got fuel up on MO-141, then got on the freeway. We didn't stop much, except for brunch in Sullivan, and getting home a little over 3 hours later, we found everything in good shape. Our daughter checks on it periodically for us.

Expense log:

$311 for gasoline (Premium)
Highest price per gallon: $3.67 (Shell, Kimball TN)
Lowest price per gallon: $3.19 (Sam's in Clarksville TN)
Brands used: Sam's (4x), RaceTrax (2x), Phillips 66 (2x), Shell (1x)
Average gas mileage: 25.6mpg

$2200 for lodging
Highest was in St Augustine, FL
Lowest per night was in Chattanooga TN

$1230 for food
Average per day, around $100.

$350 for souvenirs, gifts, and misc. I did not include the mall shopping in this amount.
The gifts included were those bought in St Aug or at one of the battlefields.
It included the wine from St Aug but not the liquor from the Total Wine in IL.

Mileage on car: 2411 miles added, total
Longest driving day: St Augustine FL to Chattanooga, 499 miles
Shortest driving day: STL to home, 180 miles
Total driving day miles: 2254 miles
Sightseeing miles: 157 miles (usually I "budget" 25% miles for sightseeing. Because of the ability to park the car in StAug and not use it for 4 days, it made a big difference in the miles used.)


That concludes this trip. Where are we going next? When are we going next? That discussion usually takes place as we travel home on our final day, and this was no exception. We just didn't come to any decisions on either one, except "maybe in the spring".


Donna